Heart Shaped Box
by wrecked
Summary: AU OC Valentine's Day. The day of giving to your significant other and treating them to something they like. But what does my boyfriend do on the day of Love? He ignores me. Maybe I should reconsider my relationship with him... xRenaXOCx


Author: Light With A Sharpened Edge

Title: Heart-Shaped Box

Pairing: I have no clue…

Disclaimer. Don't own or make profit off of Dot/Hack

Rating: PG-13 for fluff

Summary: Valentine's Day. The day of giving to your significant other and treating them to something they like. But what does my boyfriend do on the day of Love? He ignores me. Maybe I should reconsider my relationship with him... xRenaXOCx

Note: ONE SHOT ONLY.

kthanxlata

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**Heart Shaped Box **

It was Valentine's day, the day of flowers, candies, pink and red hearts, cards, anything and everything, a day where you flattered your girlfriend or boyfriend, spouse, or lover with endearing items to make them feel extremely loved.

Where you do everything in your power to center and focus your attention on the one you care for the most in the special way.

But what was Tengaki doing on that Valentine's Friday? He was being the same old ass whole and jerk to me, who seemed to never be in a bummed mood, and in his goofy mode, like he always was.

I was starting to think he was a little more messed up in the head than I had originally thought.

And I was also considering the idea of dumping him that day when he gave me one of his usual completely lost looks when I reminded him of what day it was at school. He looked like he never even heard of the damned holiday.

By the time we had to go to our lockers before first period, I was convinced that he was not as caring as I'd taken him for. I was already thinking up lines to say to him at the end of our school day. I didn't know whether to think having a half-day on Valentine's Day was a good thing at the time or bad.

We didn't have any classes together. All our classes would be cut short by twenty minutes and the school day would end somewhere around twelve-thirty, which meant there wouldn't be a lunch hour to break him the news. I felt like I was in the worst position, in the worst school, on the worst day.

I must have spent twenty-five minutes every class period feeling guilty about getting ready to dump him after school and trying to reason with myself that it was for the better. I didn't pay attention to the time and just walked to my classes, watching as everyone with a partner exchanged flowers and kisses. Tengaki and I hadn't even had our first kiss and we'd been dating for four months, ever since the thirteenth of September.

I thought he was the cutest boy at our school, the way he was so nervous and as red as a brick wall when he mumbled if I would go out with him. Not many boys are nervous about asking other girls out, they were arrogant and conceited and horny as hell.

All day, as much as I hated to admit it, the song 'Sk8ter Boi' was in my head playing the same lines over and over again. I never wanted to hear 'he was a skater boy, she said see you later boy, he wasn't good enough for her' ever again. Those words were like the lines to a relationship death-wish I didn't want to sign.

When school had finally ended, I wanted to run out of the school building because I know Tengaki had been looking for me between classes and I had obviously avoided him.

But he beat me to my own locker when his last class was in the two trailers on the other side of track behind the school and my locker is only about thirty feet from the front doors.

To me, that meant something was wrong because usually, he is as lazy as hell and walks like a sloth to my locker, chit-chatting with his friends.

And he picked the worst day to actually make an effort in school, albeit after the final bell. He really had horrible timing sometimes.

I was ready to blurt it out to him as I walked closer but once again, he beat me to it.

"Hey, Rena."

He even sounded like himself! Nothing troubling him in the slightest bit. Same old careless, optimistic, talkative Tengaki who seemingly forgot all about Valentine's day...

And me.

"Hey, Tengaki." I really needed to work on my voice. It sounded like something was in my throat trying to come out; which wasn't too far from the truth.

But the way he seemed to grin wider than humanly possible, his eyes still looking like he was hiding something but with his free disposition that was most assuredly envied of his made me feel... calm.

"Lets go. Shugo, Anissa, Jami, Eric, Jackie and Sam are already waiting for us. We're going to go down to the Rec. and hang out for awhile."

Scowling to myself, keeping my face hidden behind the locker door in between us, I said okay and started shoving my books and binder into my back-pack, finding myself suddenly very angry at it. "Ready." Slamming the locker shut, I could hear the magnets fall to the bottom of the locker inside and hoped Tengaki was as oblivious to my mood like he normally was.

"What happened? Did anybody do something to you or what?"

Sighing, I shook my head, looking the opposite way of him. I hadn't been as nervous, or angry in a long time, the last time when I was around eleven, when Shugo took my life savings of a hundred-thirty dollars, so I guess I shouldn't have been so surprised at the gentleness and concern in his voice. One that I hadn't heard in a very long time as well.

I guess he only cares when it could affect him somehow. Like me yelling at him, or something along those lines.

"No, just a bad day."

"All right, good, that means having fun will be all the more sweeter."

…

_What_ did he just say?

"What kind of sweeter?" I asked cautiously and tentatively.

He only grinned, which only made me more wary. When Tengaki grinned, usually it was not something good or something too good.

"The good kind," he said to me, as if those three words explained everything. He took my hand and led me out of the school to his car gently.

After we got in, he drove me to some park, and by that time, I was fidgeting because I wasn't exactly sure on what he wanted to do.

Then he led me to a fountain where a vase of roses sat on the ledge, droplets of water sparkling in the light of the sun.

"What are you doing?"

Tengaki gave me the silliest grin I've ever seen him wear then chuckled and scratched at the back of his head, looking at the ground. "Well, it's supposed to be celebrating Valentine's Day with you. Since it is, uh, Valentine's…Day…" he trailed off, his face changing to a disappointed but apologetic expression. "Look, I know I haven't exactly been the perfect boyfriend I know all the girls talk about and the kind on TV shows and movies, but I figured I'd give you at least _one_ day to remember me by before you cut me loose."

I stared at him, a small smile creeping onto my lips as I watched him rub his neck nervously at my gaze. "Tengaki, come here."

I could see him swallow and the way he shoved his hands into his jacket made me giggle. I stared up at his head at least half a foot higher than my own, and reached my hand up to the sides of his face. "Would I be doing this, if I were about to 'cut you loose'?" I pulled his head down and we finally shared our first kiss.

He was stiff, almost pulling away in surprise, but then he slowly, tentatively pulled his hands out of his pockets and put his arms around me.

"That," I told him, "Is our Valentine's day treat to ourselves, deal?"

He nodded. I could tell he was on the verge of letting out a chuckle through an ear-to-ear grin but, amazingly, he held it back. Barely.

"So, does this mean I can give you a present and you won't throw it back at me?" he asked, his eyebrows raised pleadingly. I nodded and he pulled out a red box, in the shape of a heart.

I took it, opened it, and I saw a golden necklace of small, frail looking, hollow gold hearts with a red one in the middle. I turned it over and on the back of the hearts was 'Always Forever' and I was ready to cry.

When I looked up, Tengaki was holding a bouquet of roses.

"I thought you'd dump me anyways, because no matter what I do now, or give you, it won't change the way I've obviously neglected you on some times. But I still got these." He handed them to me.

And then he kissed me.

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Here is the first installment of the update schedule I have listed on my Bio. I've completed everything on the update schedule up to the NEV prologue.

I will accept all the flames you have to offer, and I will understand them greatly!

Okay, I've said it before, and I will say it now. _I cannot write romantic stories_. I absolutely flunk at them.

It is so hard for me to get a right scene done where they kiss and believe me 'And then he kissed me.' is probably the best I'll ever do! You'll see it a couple times in other stories and one-shots.

I love to read romance but can't write it effectively.

-**Edge**


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